THE FOLKLORE OF PLANTS: Grass

Lisa Karen Miller

          In 1934, a massive dust storm sent millions of tons of topsoil from the Great Plains region to as far east as New York, Boston, and Atlanta.  Even ships 300 miles offshore had dust collecting on their decks.

          It was the beginning of the Dust Bowl, and the migration of millions of Americans to the far west.

          The prairie grass that had originally covered the Great Plains prevented erosion and held moisture in the soil. By the early 20^th century, farmers had plowed under most of the grass to make way for crops.  When the United States entered World War I in 1917, the demand for wheat surged. Even more grass was plowed under with the help of the new and powerful traction engines.

          In 1931 and ensuing years, droughts dried up the fields, which now had no grass to hold the soil in place.  It started blowing east with the prevailing winds.  In 1935, after another massive dust storm, reporter Robert Geiger coined the term Dust Bowl.  It was also the year President Franklin D. Roosevelt rolled out his New Deal, providing work programs and aid for those already suffering the effects of the Great Depression.

          Grass comes in a multitude of species.  Hierochloe odorata, or Sweet Vernal Grass, gives that definitive country smell of new-mown hay.  Its fine hairy roots firmly hold soil in place.

          Containing sweetly-scented coumarin, Sweetgrass can be used to fragrance linen closets.  When it is dampened, the scent is renewed. It is also used in crafts and basket making. Native Americans burn it as an incense, and use it to scent hair and clothes.

          Sticky, clinging goosegrass, also known as Cleavers, staunches blood.  Taken in wine, it was used for adder bites, and was a wild edible harvested by European peasants.

          Dreaming of fresh green grass is auspicious, but if it’s withered, misfortune can’t be far off. To dream of cutting grass is especially ominous.

          Grass, which has provided fodder for livestock for millennia, signifies usefulness, though it is a bad luck gift to a woman. It was one of the plants in the manger of the baby Jesus.

          Kentucky Bluegrass, like all cool season grasses, does best when planted in the fall.  This gives it eight months to establish deep roots which will seek out water in the heat of summer. If allowed to attain its natural height of two to three feet, it has small blue flowers.   

          We tend to take grass for granted, because, well, it’s always there.  Here’s hoping it always will be.

© Copyright 2023 Lisa Karen Miller